France Debates Sweeping Changes as Part of Marriage Equality Law

Marchers in a June Pride parade in Paris

France could become the latest country to legalize marriage equality, and as part of the proposed change, the nation could make things easier for LGBT parents.

The new draft law would take away male and female descriptions of parents, i.e., mother and father, in the civil code and replace them with gender-neutral terms like "parent." The proposed marriage law would also give equal adoption rights to same-sex couples. Should the legislation pass, marriage would be described in the nation's civil code as "a union of two people, of different or the same gender."

French Catholics are unsurprisingly up in arms, saying the law will lead to incest and polygamy. Nonethless, French president Francois Hollande is a supporter of marriage equality; his cabinet will be presented with the bill on October 31.

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